Bakery Reunion
by Asagi Tsuki
Summary: When the old bakery closed down for a while, Ein found himself meeting with someone he least expected in the other bakery


**Bakery Reunion**

By: Asagi Tsuki

Summary: when the old bakery closed down for a while, Ein found himself meeting with someone he least expected in the other bakery

Warning: little bit hints of EinxLedah. So little that it would almost look natural. Almost… right…

Note: takes place approximately three months after the defeat of Seth-Ra in Yggdrasil

Disclaimer: I don't own Riviera – The Promised Land

**Rendezvous places…**

A young boy walked down the grassy path of the tree top village solemnly. Today was his turn to go to the market and shop for groceries again, and it all was so unfair.

Why did he get three turns in a week, anyway?

He flung the empty rattan basket in his hand idly, while humming to a tune he didn't know he knew. He was asked to buy bread today, and the girls back at home deemed that carrying bread with rattan basket is the easiest.

Did they watch too much movies with farm setting?

He stopped in front of a giant tree in the heart of the village, and looked up, as if challenging the sunray that filtered through the dense leaves of the Life Tree, or also known as Yggdrasil.

He smiled contentedly at the sight of the tree. He still remembered clearly what happened inside the tree three months ago as if it happened yesterday. It was like a video in his head that will never be blurred.

He raised his hand, and clutched at the small rosary dangling around his neck. Ever since he decided to stay in Elendia, the peaceful tree top village in Riviera, he had thrown away his own broken rosary, and wore his friend's rosary. He told the others that he'd remember his friend better this way.

He didn't need his own rosary anymore, anyway, and his friend's rosary is far more beautiful than his own.

He finally let go of the rosary, and continued on to the market place. The girls would be angry if he didn't come home on time, and he was sure he wouldn't want to miss dinner.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Ah Ein," an old woman who worked in a vegetables shop greeted the young boy as he walked past her shop, her teeth showing as she grinned from ear to ear. "Doing shopping again?" she asked gaily.

"Yes, ma'am," Ein nodded and approached the shop. A few minutes chat won't do him any harm. "I heard that the bakery over there has closed down, is it true?" he asked.

Words spread that yesterday, the owner of the bakery closed down the bakery because his hand was burnt and he couldn't make any bread for a while. It was said that the bakery would reopen after his hand healed, but no one could tell exactly when.

"Yes, yes, a pity, that is," the old woman nodded her head, the wrinkles on her forehead increasing slightly as she frowned a bit. "But there's the new bakery over there, and the owner is really nice," she said as she bared her teeth again, and pointed at the direction of a small bakery.

"A new bakery? Haven't heard of that," Ein commented as he looked over at the small mushroom-shaped house the old woman pointed. "But I'll go check it out,"

"You should," the old woman said happily. "The girl's real nice. I want to have a granddaughter like her," she cackled happily. "Oh, you better go now, or the tea time will be over. The bread is for the tea time, right?" she asked as she looked at the clock hanging on the wall of her shop.

"Oh that's right, I'll go now then," Ein looked at the clock as well, and nodded his head to show his gratefulness to the old woman. "See you again," he said, and rushed towards the bakery.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Yes? How can I help you?" a young lady at the age of approximately nineteen years old asked as she smiled sweetly at Ein when he approached the bakery the old woman told him. She had mussed shoulder-length blond hair that gave the impression of a boy, but her face is so sweet that whoever saw her could tell that she's a female.

Ein was speechless for a while as he stared at the beauty in front of him. He had never seen someone so beautiful. Not even Fia or Cierra could be compared to her.

"Mister? How can I help you?" the young lady asked again as she leaned forward, and she looked ready to wave her hand in front of Ein should he not answer her question once again.

"Eh, oh, sorry," Ein mumbled as he snapped out of his trance. "Do you have some French bread? I need it for a tea party," he said as he reached his pocket for money.

"Ledah…" he thought to himself. "She definitely looks like Ledah, only she's more cheerful,"

"A tea party, how wonderful," the young lady smiled at him as she reached for a basket of French bread. "You may choose which one you want," she said as she moved the basket forward.

Ein looked at the group of French bread in the basket, and pointed at the one he deemed to be the best one. "Can you wrap it up?" he asked.

"Yes, a moment please," the girl nodded her head happily, and reached out a hand to grab the one Ein pointed at. When she reached out her hand, Ein could see a rosary wrapped around her wrist. A rosary that looked like the one he was wearing, as if the rosaries were twins.

There were no counters that separated them, so it was easy for him to shoot his hand out and grabbed her wrist. He brought her hand closer for a better examination, while she yelled in surprise and dropped the bread onto the ground.

"Miss," he called as he frowned at the rosary. "Where do you find this?" he asked as he motioned at the rosary around her wrist. It was a rosary only produced in Asgard. The design was different, and he could tell the difference between the rosary of Asgard and Utgard just with a quick glance.

"This- this necklace?" she asked hesitantly as her hand shook slightly with shock.

Ein frowned a bit more. She didn't even know that it was a rosary and not an ordinary necklace. How could that possibly be?

"It- it was there, when I woke up," she stammered slightly. "Why?"

"No," Ein shook his head. "It's just that… it's so familiar," he finished softly and let go of the girl's hand. "Sorry to scare you," he said as he bent down and picked the fallen bread.

She shook her head, and picked the basket. "Here, choose another one," she said gently, "And you may pick another one as well," she added with a smile.

"No," Ein shook his head and said sternly. "It was my fault that this bread fell to the ground, and I must be responsible for that," he said, "The girls won't be angry anyway," he added.

"No," the girl insisted. "Girls want the bread to be perfect, not a dirty one,"

"It's alright, they don't really need it anyway," he insisted as well.

"I said no and it's a no!" she nearly shouted. "Tea parties are special times because you get to spend it with someone you care, and you can't spend it alone, so it mustn't be ruined just because of a bread," she reasoned loudly, but finished it slowly that she almost looked wistful.

Ein looked at her, before he placed the bread on the table and picked two other French breads from the basket. "I will take those two," he said.

The girl looked up at him, before she nearly beamed at him. "Okay!" she chirped happily, and moved to wrap the two breads with a sheet of paper.

Ein stared at her, before he smiled serenely at himself. She is patient, selfless, and kind, just like his friend. It was like his friend had a long lost twin.

The girl wrapped the breads as they chatted idly about their own life. Ein told her about how he met Fia and Lina, and Serene and Cierra, and why they were all living in the same house. The girl told him about how happy she was to run a bakery in the peaceful little village.

Like Ein before, she was suffering from amnesia. She woke up inside the mushroom-shaped house one day, and didn't remember how she ended up there. All she knew was that she had to run the bakery, and that she came from another village at the other end of Riviera.

"Here you go," the girl said as she handed the two breads to Ein who put it inside the rattan basket, and the girl had to cover her mouth with his hand to refrain herself from laughing out loud at the image of Ein holding onto a rattan basket like a young noble lady from the Victorian era or something.

"Thanks," Ein mumbled as he nodded at the girl.

"See you again," the girl said with a wide smile and waved at him.

"Wait," Ein said suddenly, as he turned back to face the girl. "My name is Ein. What is your name?"

"Me? I'm Ledah,"

It felt as if his head could explode anytime. The information was too much. First, he found a girl who looked like the original Ledah. Then he found out that the girl has the same attitude with the original Ledah. And now he also found out that she shared the same name with Ledah.

Who is she, anyway, Ledah morphed into a girl?

"What's wrong?" the girl asked as she looked at Ein.

"No, nothing's wrong," Ein said as he smiled lightly at Ledah. "See you again… Ledah…"

With that said and done, he walked away, to the tree house he shared with the four girls and one cat, while Ledah watched as he walked away from her bakery.

"Hm… I wonder why he looks so sad," she mumbled to herself.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Ein, it's your time to do the shopping again!" a young girl with short purplish hair shouted from downstairs as she literally threw the same rattan basket upstairs. "Don't be late this time!" she added.

"Fine, fine," Ein mumbled as he grabbed the rattan basket and walked out of the tree house, and into the marketplace of Elendia, located not far from their house.

It had been three days since he last been to the marketplace, and it had been three days since he saw the girl-version of his best friend.

He didn't tell Rose because he thought that he was just imagining things because he missed his best friend so dearly, that maybe she didn't really look like his best friend, but in his imagination, she did.

He knew he was a kind of a pessimist. He had been a pessimist since the death of his best friend, and he never wanted to be so optimistic ever again, because the last time he was optimistic, it cost him the life of his best friend.

He arrived at the marketplace not long afterward, and she passed the old woman's vegetables shop again. They shared a word of hi to each other, and he was on his way again.

"Buying French bread for tea party again?" Ledah asked with the same smile etched on her face, and Ein felt as if he had crossed the Valhalla gate and was reunited with Ledah, the old Ledah who had taken care of him through his younger years.

"Yes," Ein managed to choke out the answer because he was too stunned. This couldn't possibly be an imagination. No, it had to be real.

"Great, I've saved the best French bread today for you," she said happily as she grabbed the basket and showed the one she meant. "Don't you think it's great?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is," Ein nodded as he smiled. He looked at the French bread, and was very happy to know that Ledah cared for him. Maybe people who share the name Ledah are like that?

"I'll wrap it up for you," Ledah offered as she grabbed the bread from the basket and started to wrap it up for him. "Tea party again?" she asked.

"Yes," Ein nodded. "It's almost a daily routine,"

"That's great," Ledah said. "In my place before, you only have tea parties with your family, or with friends dear to you that you don't want them to leave, so no people will have tea parties just for formalities," she explained.

"It is?" Ein asked incredulously. He didn't know that tea parties hold such great meaning.

"Yeah," she said as she handed the wrapped bread to Ein. "Have a nice afternoon," she said as she smiled at him.

"Ledah," Ein called. The name didn't sound foreign to him. His tongue rolled so naturally that it felt like he was breathing when he said the name.

"Yes?"

"You… you're staying here, right?" Ein asked hopefully, hoping that the answer would be yes, and he wouldn't be left twice by Ledah. Just like Ledah couldn't withstand two hits by Skadi, he couldn't withstand it if he was left twice by Ledah.

"I guess," Ledah nodded her head. "I like it here, and I don't think I'll be able to go out of here," she reasoned, "but there's no telling, since I don't have a reason to stay here as well,"

Ein put the rattan basket on the table, and held onto Ledah's hands.

"Stay," he murmured. "Please,"

Ledah was surprised, to say the least. She wasn't used to see boys crying, and more so, because of her.

"Don't go," Ein sobbed softly. "I don't want to be left twice,"

Slowly, Ledah broke her hands free from Ein's grasp, and hugged him closely, like a big sister would to her younger brother.

"It's okay," Ledah murmured softly to the sobbing Ein. "I'm not going to leave you," she added.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Sorry for burdening you," Ein said as he nodded his head and grabbed the rattan basket from the table. He turned around, and asked, "You really aren't leaving?"

"Yes," Ledah answered lightly. "Maybe," she added, "Just maybe, I've found a reason to stay here,"

A small smile danced across Ein's face, before he walked home, to where his friends were waiting for him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Ein!" a young girl with long green hair that was tied with a huge black ribbon called as she walked inside and waved a small card. "There's a message for you," she said.

Ein looked at her, before nodding at her and accepted the card. He looked at it as he sipped the hot chocolate for breakfast, and smiled a little.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"French bread for tea party again?" Ledah asked as she smiled at Ein who was walking down the pathway to the bakery. "You never get tired of French bread, do you?" she asked with a sense of humor.

"Yes, that, and Ledah for tea party," Ein replied with the same sense of humor. "I definitely will never get tired of that one," he added.

Ledah smiled and handed him the wrapped French bread she had prepared for Ein.

"How much does it cost?"

"Your friendship, and your vow to stay with me always,"

_: I'm looking forward to the tea party :_

**Have Never Included Bakery**

For those who have read some of my fics, they would know that the _: blah :_ is something that is part of the story, but isn't told in the story, until the end of it.

In this story, the _: blah :_ is the writing on the card that Ein received in the morning.

Anyway, this is my second Riviera fanfic. After making an angsty one, I felt guilty and I made a happy one. Well, at least I tried to. Hope you enjoy. I enjoy constructive criticisms and reviews, but I don't enjoy flames, so please don't leave flames. I don't like them. If you want to tell me I suck, at least tell me why do I suck.

Thanks, and once again, hope you enjoy, since it's been a long time since I last wrote a one-shot.


End file.
